A World of Beauty
by the Beginning and the End
Summary: A Free! Apocalypse AU. Set after episode nine. Rated teen for future chapters. Reigisa, implied Gou and Seijuro. While the swim club has gone off on a camping trip, it becomes apparent that the most constant thing the in world, the one thing that everything needs to survive, has been deemed 'unsafe for use'- water. How will this affect the swim club? (Terrible description, sorry.)
1. Chapter 1

The news stories on it had taken over the airwaves a few days after the swim club had left for a camping trip.

It had been Gou's idea; she thought that maybe some of the tension from the competition (not to mention her brother) would fade a bit if the boys had some bonding time. Camping had become their second go-to activity ever since their trip to the deserted islands, besides swimming, of course. Makoto had been all for the idea, and the four of them had left the moment the opportunity had arisen, the group excited and ready to begin, Nagisa more so than the others, to no one's surprise. The young blonde had been eager for something like this to come up ever since their little group was stuck in that light house. Fortunately for him the trip was going to last a week this time.

In that week, the world around them had slowly began to collapse, without the swim club noticing, Gou assumed at least, because they couldn't access the news. She could only hope that all of them were safe as she began to dial Makato's number desperately. Gou herself had only realized how severe the problem was a few hours ago. Rin had done his best to protect her from the outside world, but with Seijuro constantly asking her if she was okay and had enough water, she was forced to look into it, not being able to toss it aside and dismiss it as odd behavior.

Everything was wrong. Water wasn't _good_ anymore, it wasn't _safe_. You shouldn't drink, you shouldn't swim, not even play in the rain. Only bottled and boiled water was alright, even the filtered water of sinks and pools alike were iffy. Gou couldn't wrap her head fully around it. Water was something you needed to survive. It was something that was always there. Heck, the human body was made of 70% water, and now all of it was poisoned.

It wasn't something that happened overnight, Seijuro had told her when Rin refused to explain. There had been little signs, ones that most people ignored. The ones who did notice hushed it up, and the citizens of earth continued to pump toxins into the oceans and streams, and now it was too late. Sure, the scientists were working on it, some sort of purifier, but that wasn't something that happened overnight, either. "We're stuck in a pretty bad situation," Seijuro had admitted sadly, running his careful fingers through her red hair, just the way she likes it, in an attempt to calm her down.

It hadn't worked. Gou was panicking as the phone kept ringing. For a fleeting moment she feared she would be stuck with voice mail, which _wasn't good enough_, she needed to make sure her friends were okay _now_, and even if their parents had contacted their sons first and they did know, Gou needed to be reassured that they were aware of the situation, and were heading back to the city effective immediately. Sure, here in the town there were riots and a constant fear that your house would be the next to be raided, but that was one hundred percent better than being out in the middle of the woods with no clue what was going on. What if Haru had taken a nice, long, and unknowingly life-threatening dip in a nearby stream? What if Nagisa hadn't brought a canteen from home and drank water from a lake, completely disregarding a lecture from Rei that it wasn't clean?

"Hello?"

"Makato-senpai!" Gou yelped as he answered, jarring her from her distressed thoughts. "You have to come home right now!"


	2. Chapter 2

First thing first. "Haru! _Don't you dare jump into that stream!_"

Mako had called out just in time. Haru's shirt was off and his pants were halfway off, belt laying forgotten on the ground. Thankfully Haru must have seen that something was wrong, maybe his voice had trembled or maybe it was the half-crazed look in his eyes, but either way Haru meekly pulled back his pants, covering up his swimsuit effectively, but he didn't put back on the shirt or belt. Probably waiting for permission.

He would have a long wait. "Are you sure about this?" Mako's voice dropped, somehow managing to keep calm.

"Yes!" came the frantic and static-y answer. "Everyone is okay, right?"

Mako started to nod, then remembered she couldn't see it through the phone, so he stammered out, "Y-Yes! Don't worry!"

"Call me back when you can, alright? Right now you need to talk to the guys and call your family."

Mako froze. That's right, he had been so fixated on what was going on he forgot that it was actually affecting _real people_ as he spoke. It wasn't limited to one city, it was the world. It wasn't some hoax, _it was the truth_. People he knew and loved could be dying _that very second_.

Mako usually didn't hang up on people. He found it rude, not to mention annoying. But he made an exception and pressed the end button, gazing at the group, trying to find the right words.

Nagisa was the first to break the silence that descended over the team, after listening to the mocking waves of water splashing on the shore for a moment. "Something wrong, Mako?" He didn't look too terribly concerned. He didn't know the enormity of the situation. He didn't know about the travail ahead. Mako almost hated to tell him- Nagisa looked so calm, so much like a firecracker waiting for the right moment to explode, not out of panic though. Out of excitement. He had no idea what was coming. None of them did. _Ignorance,_ Mako decided while taking a moment to look over each of his friends, trying to communicate his helplessness in one glance, _is truly bliss._

* * *

**Author's Note: These chapters are short. I apologize, it's just that it's not in Rei's POV yet (which is the POV it's supposed to be in) and we're not even fully into the main plot yet. I have a lot in store... ;)**


End file.
